While walking down the street, proudly displaying my honest love for all things tofu, I remembered the recent absurdity in Denver regarding one vegan's failure to obtain a TOFU license plate. Especially given the syntax of Herbivore Clothing's adorable design, I wondered if my shirt would be misinterpreted by anyone. But, I realized that if anyone were that stupid, then they deserve to be offended.

You can pick up your own "i <3 tofu" shirt here and offend as many people as your tofu and FU lovin' heart desires.

Congratulations are in order for Josh "Herbivore" Hooten, who recently raised almost $13,000 for Farm Sanctuary while completing a 604 mile bicycle journey from Portland to Orland, CA, for their annual Hoe Down event that was held this past weekend. Ronnie would be proud! Check out his beautiful pictures from the ride: gallery.

A little closer to home, I'd like to introduce you to a little joint that you should really become familiar with, if you haven't already. Rico's is a little, retro diner, located on the corner of 15th and Franklin in downtown Oakland.

They have a separate vegetarian/vegan menu with several sandwich and fried potato options available. Their claim the fame is the vegan pulled pork sandwich, made from mushroom stems, in a tasty without being overly messy sauce and organic greens on a soft, wheat bun. They also have a banh mi, which I have yet to try, and a chicken and sweet pepper cheesesteak sandwich (sans cheese for vegan) that got good reviews from my pals. You can get regular fries, garlic fries, curly fries, or piping hot tater tots! Self-serve cups and access to an ice dispenser and water cooler get a thumbs up as well.

The downside to Rico's is that they're downtown business lunch crowd hours friendly, so they're only open until 3 p.m. You can also stop in on Saturdays. And be sure to (gently) harass them to carry vegan milkshakes!

If you're still hankering for some more t-shirts and are laughing in the recession's face, stop by Zu where Danny has a couple new vegan designs up.

I am still SO sad I missed out on the Murder shirt. He has XL in stock & I'm almost tempted to buy it & make it smaller. AUGH!Rico's sounds awesome or maybe I just want tots. Either way, I need to check it out.